The Hughes Return
by CahillGirl2001
Summary: The Hughes and the Pevensies left Narnia for one long year until they were brought back by Prince Caspian blowing Susan's horn. When they come back, can they learn who to trust before it's too late? Will Susan and Thomas's relationship change because of the dashing Prince of Narnia? What of the other children? Main pairings now Thomusan and Pediane.
1. The Return

**Hey guys! So this is the sequel to my story The Hughes, so if you haven't already you will want to read that one first. **

**I would like to let you all know that in this story, unlike it's prequel, the main focus will not be on Edmarie. The reason for this is that I wanted to focus more on Pediane and Thomusan in this one because I usually do Suspian, so I wanted to change it up a bit.**

**Other than that, there is just one more thing I'd like to say before I begin the story. I would just like to thank Rachel Kate Doxey and FlightFeathers for helping me get through The Hughes and giving me the encouragement to start on this one as well.****You guys are amazing!**

**Now, you can get on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Me, myself, and I do not own TCoN.**

Prince Caspian stirred slightly as someone shook him lightly by the arm. "Five more minutes," he mumbled sleepily. "No your majesty," his professor said. "We won't be watching the stars tonight my Prince." Caspian sat up. "What is it?" he asked groggily.

"You're aunt has given birth," said the professor. Caspian gave him a confused look as if to say, "and I care why?" "To a son," elaborated the professor.

Those words were all that Caspian needed to jump out of bed and get ready quickly. He knew very well what a son meant. It meant that Caspian was the only thing standing in the way of his cruel uncle's child becoming king one day. He got ready quickly and followed his professor outside.

The professor brought him outside, and Caspian knew that soon enough the alarm would sound and the guards would come. He quickly got on Destrier as the alarms sounded and the Professor stood beside him. "You must make for the woods," the Professor told him hurriedly. "They won't follow you there."

He gave Caspian a horn, obviously very old by the look of it. "It has taken me many years to find this," he told him. "Do not use it except for your greatest need." "will I ever see you again?" asked Caspian. "I dearly hope so my Prince," said the Professor. "There is so much more I meant to tell you. Everything you know is about to change."

The guards suddenly came out also on horseback, and before Caspian could so anything the Professor slapped his horse and it took off quickly. Caspian made his horse go as fast as it possibly could as he fought his way through the gates, making his way to the woods as he had been told.

And with one final look back at his childhood home, Caspian raced past the guards and toward to woods.

Unfortunately, the Professor had been wrong when he told Caspian that the guards would not follow him. albeit a bit slowly, they did in fact chase him and Caspian found himself deep in the woods, nowhere near any landmark he knew of. He rode for miles, crossing a river even, and his horse nearly drowned before he got to the other side.

He had nearly got away when suddenly he was hit by a branch and was thrown off his horse, merely hanging on by a shoe now. With difficulty he kicked himself free and was able to stop being dragged, though his horse disappeared from sight.

Groaning he laid on the ground, and the whole forest was still for just a moment. He sat up slowly and looked around him, and in the distance he could now hear the faint beat of horses running. Suddenly there was a loud bang and out of what Caspian had previously assumed to be a rock there came two dwarves and a badger.

"He's seen us!"

One dwarf ran up to him and was about to slice him with a sword when he saw the horn that lay on the ground beside Caspian, which had been in his pocket until he was thrown off Destrier. The sound of the horses became louder and it became apparent that they were very nearby. Soon the guards were in sight and the dwarf seemed to come to a decision.

"Take care of him," he said to the other dwarf, who was standing next to the rock. He ran off and went into battle with the guards, and even though it didn't seem likely he would win the dwarf braved on. Before Caspian knew what he was doing the dwarf came at him and Caspian suddenly picked up the horn and blew on it before his whole world went dark.

-LINE BREAK BECAUSE THE REGULAR LINE WAS TOO BORING-

Diane Hughes looked around herself. Just like all those years ago, she was standing in a train station, looking around at everything. Of course, it was only one year ago by actual time. The children had been very surprised when they found that they had gone back home, seeing as they had forgotten about it completely about it at the time, but were pleasantly surprised to find that they all still had their rings.

The difference this time, however, was that she was looking for someone and not just absently looking around. She and her siblings had convinced their parents, who had just gotten back from the war, to allow them to go to the same boarding schools as the Pevensies, who were supposed to meet them at the train station.

Thomas and Peter were fourteen now, leaving Susan and Diane at thirteen, Marie and Edmund at eleven, and Anthony and Lucy at nine. Peter and Thomas both found this an annoyance as the older girls were both getting much prettier and boys were starting to notice them more and more often.

She looked around, trying to find her friends and husband, and suddenly she heard a ruckus coming from the staircase at the front of the train station. She had a bad feeling that she knew what it was about- Susan had kept in contact with her and her brother and had told them that Peter was getting into fights often anymore.

She and her brother shared a weary look and went over to where the fight was going on, bringing Anthony and Marie along with them.

The staircase had a huge crowd at the bottom of it, chanting and yelling. They pushed their way to the front of the crowd, and what they saw made Diane's mouth drop. Peter and Edmund were both fighting with some boys very much bigger than them and getting their butts whopped royally.

Susan and Lucy were on the other side of the crowd, yelling at them to stop it, and when Diane and Susan's eyes met for a moment Diane saw the message that was clearly there: Make it stop. Diane watched as the fight was broken up by a police officer, making the crowd disperse, and Peter and Edmund got a firm talking-to by one officer.

When the boys were told to move on, they went back to their sisters as the Hughes siblings walked over to them. Diane and Marie gave both of their husbands' very stern looks as they walked back to a bench and sat down, Edmund's arm over Marie and the rest of them sitting close to their husbands and wives. "What was it this time?" asked Diane, her voice stern and one eyebrow raised.

Peter looked cross. "He bumped me," he said simply. Susan looked confused. "You hit him because he bumped you?" she asked incredulously. "No," said Peter, his voice showing how mad he was. "He bumped me and told me to apologize. That's when I hit him."

Diane sighed. "Peter you've got to stop this," she said. He looked down at her. Now at fourteen again, he was about two inches taller. "Is it really so hard to walk away?" "I shouldn't have to," snapped Peter. "Don't you every get tired of being treated like a kid?"

Diane sighed. "We are kids," Edmund said. "I wasn't always," said Peter. "It's been a year. How long does He expect us to wait?" He didn't have to elaborate; everyone knew what he was talking about. "I think it's time we except that we live here," said Susan. "There's no use pretending any different."

"That's harsh," commented Marie. "So is reality," bit back Thomas.

Diane put a hand on her husband's cheek, looking into his eyes. "I want to go back too," she said soothingly. "But we have to be patient and wait." She kissed him lightly, making him sigh before she pulled back. Susan suddenly turned to the others. "Pretend you're talking to me," she hissed. The others looked behind her to find a boy walking toward them.

Suddenly Lucy jumped up. "Ow!" she said. "Something pinched me!"

One by one the others did the same, and the wind started whipping past as a train went by. But it felt different than it should, Diane realized. "Everyone hold hands!" she yelled. Edmund had a problem, but presently he came round and they held hands as the wind rushed by. Suddenly the train station started to disappear until there was nothing.

The children looked around them when the wind stopped. They stood in the middle of a beach. The children smiled at each other before they all ran as one to the water, splashing around and playing joyfully before getting out and looking around them.

Suddenly Edmund stopped. "Where do you suppose we are?" he asked. The others gave him identical incredulous looks. "Where do you think?" asked Peter. "Narnia of course." "But I don't remember there being any ruins in Narnia," said Edmund. The others looked up at the top of the hill before them and realized he was right: there were ruins there.

They walked up to the ruins and looked around, looking at the crumbling pillars and broken walls. There were no more floors, and in the place there was just the hard ground from the hill.

"I wonder who lived here?" asked Marie. "I-I think we did," said Susan slowly. The others looked around. "Imagine walls there," said Lucy. "And pillars there, and a grand ceiling there." She pointed as she said each thing, and when she was done Diane found that she was completely right.

"Hey," said Edmund, picking something up from the ground. "This was mine, from my chess set." Diane looked at it and found that it was in fact a knight piece from his set back in the Golden Age. "Which chess set?" asked Peter. Edmund rolled his eyes at his brother. "Well I didn't have a solid gold chess set in Finchley did I?" he said sarcastically.

"It's Cair Paravel," said Marie in wonder, looking around. Suddenly her eyes seemed to take in a sad look. "What happened here?" They looked around at the overgrown weeds and the tall grass now surrounding the ruins. "This didn't just happen," said Thomas suddenly. "Cair Paravel was attacked. There's cannon dust there, and there." He pointed as he talked, and the children saddened.

Then Anthony saw something over by the side. "Look," he said. "The treasure chamber is still there!" The others looked over at where he was pointing and found that he was right. In front, just like before, was the large wall that blocked people from coming into the chamber and stealing the gold and jewels there.

The boys pushed the wall away to reveal the staircase that they had walked down so many times. Peter tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around a small stick he found, obviously about to make a torch with it. "Anybody got a match?" he asked. The others shook their heads.

"No," said Edmund, looking through his bag until he came out with a flashlight. "But would this help?" He held up the flashlight for Peter to see, and the others laughed. "You might have mentioned that a bit sooner!" said Peter, though he had a grin on his face. He took the flashlight and shone it into the dark room as he led the others down.

They walked down the steps carefully, making sure not to trip, until they got to the bottom, where they saw that the treasure room was bright with sunlight. The king's and queen's chests were there, along with their statues. "I can't believe it," said Peter. "It's all still here."

They went to the chests one by one and looked inside. "I was so tall," said Lucy, holding up a dress that was far too large for her. "You were older then," said Susan, smiling at her sister. Edmund grinned. "As opposed to hundreds of years later," he said. "When you're younger."

Edmund had on a helmet that he had worn in battle, and it was obviously much too big for him. Marie chuckled. The children looked at their gifts, which were all dusty, and remembered the bittersweet memories of their friends. Peter looked at his statue. He had looked so magnificent then, but now he was just a regular kid again.

Diane sensed his sadness and put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, giving him a light smile of comfort.

"My horn is missing," said Susan. "I must have left it on my saddle the day we went back." Suddenly Diane realized something. "Tumnus and all our old friends," she said. "They're all gone." Everyone got on a sad face for a moment before Peter cleared his throat. "Well," he said. "I suppose there's no use in going on about it now. We need to figure out why we're here."

So the children got dressed quickly in clean Narnian clothes and got their weapons on them just in case before going down to the beach, getting ready to explore the new Narnia.

**So I decided to cut it there 'cause I liked it there. I hope you all enjoy it! Please review, and again any new readers should probably go back to The Hughes before going on. Thank you all for reading, and if you are out there Rachel Kate Doxey I would be happy forever if you'd review!**

**-CahillGirl2001**


	2. Narnia Has Changed

**Hey guys! I am so sorry that it took so long! It's just that there has been some drama in my family lately, so I haven't been able to write much, so it took forever to get this down. I hope you all didn't think I forgot about this story, because since this is only the second chapter that would be pretty pathetic I should think. *laughs* So anyway I really hope you guys all liked the first chapter and here's the second one!**

**Rachel Kate Doxey: Thank you so much for the review! I like the reviews no matter how late they come. I am so happy that you like it! You don't know how relieved that makes me. I would be so happy to hear from you again! Thanks!**

**Guest: Thank you so much for the review! It meant allot!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned PC, but unfortunately I don't. But luckily I do own the Hughes siblings, so you guys can't steal them.**

They didn't go too far along the beach when they heard it: the yells of two men and another muffled yell from the same direction. They looked in the direction that they were coming from and found that in fact there were two armored men in a boat trying to throw a bound and gagged dwarf into the lake.

Susan quickly knocked an arrow in her bow. "Drop him!" she yelled so that the men could hear her. They turned to her and their faces whitened in fear. Quickly they dropped the dwarf into the water and as the older boys dove into the water to try to get the bound dwarf, Susan shot one man with an arrow and he fell out of the boat. The other one dove off of the boat as well to escape the same fate and was forgotten as the boys came above the water with the dwarf.

"Drop him!?" fumed the dwarf when he had gotten the gag off. Susan looked indignant. "A simple thank you would suffice," she said haughtily as Thomas put his arm around her shoulder. "They were doing just fine drowning me without your help!" the dwarf snapped at them all.

"Maybe we should have let them," said Peter, losing patience with the rude dwarf. "Narnians got very rude in a hundred years…" observed Diane quietly. "How come they were trying to drown you anyway?" wondered Anthony, looking at the dwarf with curiosity.

The dwarf glared at them all. "Their Telmarines," he said, practically spitting the last word. "That's what they do." The kings and queens gave each other confused looks. "Telmarines?" said Edmund, his lopsided grin on his face showing that he didn't believe the dwarf. "In Narnia?" The dwarf just looked at him like he was stupid.

"Where have you been the last few hundred years?" he asked. The children looked at each other again. "It's a long story," said Thomas when he looked back at the dwarf. The dwarf looked at each of them carefully before finally it seemed to dawn on him.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," he said in disbelief. "You're it? The Kings and Queens of Old? The supposed Saviors?" Peter stepped out and put his hand forward to the dwarf. "High King Peter the Magnificent," he introduced. The dwarf back up slightly at that.

"You probably could have left out that last bit," said Susan, smiling. The dwarf looked up at the blonde before him. "Probably," he said cheekily, chuckling. Peter smirked and unsheathed his sword. "I think you would be surprised," he said. The tone of his voice was an obvious dare.

The dwarf eyed him seriously. "Oh," he said. "You don't want to do that boy." Peter grinned down on him. "Not me," he said, pointing at his brother. "Him."

His brother looked a bit surprised, but grinned anyway and unsheathed his sword and Peter gave the dwarf his own to use. When he had taken it, the sword tip fell to the ground and it looked as though the dwarf was having a problem holding it. Edmund turned to the others and gave them a cocky grin.

This was his first mistake.

The dwarf used his distractedness to his advantage as he struck first. Edmund was surprised at first but quickly recuperated and they lunged into battle. It was another five minutes before the battle ended with Edmund on top as the dwarf was knocked to the ground, though not hard enough to really hurt him.

"By the Mane! It looks like the Horn worked after all!"

The children looked at him questioningly. "What horn?" asked Susan curiously, thinking of her own that was lost. "The horn of Queen Susan," he answered. "It is said that the true hero of Narnia will blow on it, and they would call the Kings and Queens to fight with them and to help them save Narnia once again from the evils."

"Oh," said Anthony. "So that's how we ended up back here!" Thomas helped the dwarf back up then, giving him his hand to help pull him up. "Alright," said Diane, talking at last. "You already know who Peter is so I suppose we should let you know who we are." She began pointing to each person as she talked, introducing them in the same fashion she had done so many times before in the Golden Age. "I'm High Queen Diane, and there's King Thomas, Queen Susan, King Edmund, Queen Marie, King Anthony, and Queen Lucy. What's your name?"

The dwarf looked at them all closely before answering. "My name is Trumpkin," he said. "And I should probably bring you back to the rest of the Narnians. We need your help to fight the Telmarines." The children shared a look again. "If it's what we were brought here to do," said Peter with finality after a moment, nodding his head once and turning back to Trumpkin.

A few minutes later they sat in the small boat that the soldiers had been on earlier and the boys began rowing them as the others sat back. "The trees," said Lucy quietly after a moment, looking around her. "They're so still." Trumpkin gave her a look as though she were stupid. "They're trees," he said. "What did you expect?"

"They used to dance," explained Anthony, giving Lucy's hand a squeeze. She gave him a grateful smile.

"Not too long after you left the Telmarines invaded," said Trumpkin. "Those who survived retreated into the woods and the trees retreated so far into themselves that they haven't been heard from since." Diane looked around her miserably. "How sad," she said quietly. Peter gave her a sympathetic smile and she smiled sadly back.

"I don't understand," said Lucy. "How could Aslan have let this happen?" "Aslan?" snorted Trumpkin. "He abandoned us when you lot did." "We didn't mean to leave," said Marie sadly. "We didn't have a choice." "Not a lot of difference that makes," said Trumpkin. Diane was seriously starting to get fed up with his negative attitude.

"Get us to the Narnians and it will," she said determinedly.

The boat continued rowing for what felt like forever to her before finally they stopped at a gravelly beach. The boys got out first before they each helped the girls out as well, while Trumpkin secured the boat to the side of the beach so that it wouldn't float away.

Once they had all gotten off, Lucy looked around. She soon found a bear digging on the other side of the beach and grinned. "Hello there!" she called to it happily, making her siblings and the others look over at her. The bear stood up on its hind legs and made a warning noise but Lucy paid it no mind. "It's alright," she continued. "We're friends."

The bear got back on its four legs again and before Lucy could register anything Trumpkin called from behind her, "Don't move your majesty!" She turned to look at him curiously for a moment before she turned back around to see that the bear was running toward her menacingly.

She turned and ran toward her siblings, and Susan put up her bow. "Stay away from her!" she yelled, but the bear didn't stop. Lucy fell, and the bear quickly came up beside her. She screamed, and faintly she heard in the background the others yelling at Susan to shoot, but she hadn't yet.

Suddenly, right before the bear pounced on her an arrow came forward and killed it. She turned to see Susan, who she had at first thought was the shooter, looking at the bear curiously before looking back at Trumpkin, who now had a bow in his hands, and watched as he put it down and walked toward the dead animal.

"Why wouldn't he stop?" asked Susan as Anthony went to help Lucy up and Trumpkin continued getting nearer to the dead bear. "I suspect he was hungry," he said plainly. All eight of the children followed him to the bear and Anthony put his arm around Lucy in a form of comfort.

"Thanks," said Lucy. The dwarf looked back for a moment but said nothing.

"He was wild," said Diane in wonder. "I don't think he could talk at all." Trumpkin had a grim expression on his face. "Get treated like a dumb animal long enough," he said. "And you start becoming one. You'll find that Narnia is a much more savage place than you remember."

He took out his knife and bent down, and as it became apparent what he was about to do Diane looked away in horror along with Lucy and the other girls as she hid her head in Peter's chest.

Eventually the bear was skinned and, being that there was nothing else to eat, the children reluctantly agreed to cook and eat it since it was nearly three o' clock and they needed something to eat. After they had eaten their fill they began walking again and it wasn't long before they had gotten lost. At least, Diane had.

"I don't know where we even are," she said. Thomas looked back at her with a joking smile on his face, one that she hadn't seen in a while. "That's the problem with girls," he said. "They can't keep a map in their heads." She gave one back at him. "That's because unlike boys, girls have something already in them," she said. Her older brother stuck his tongue out at her in a joking manner and she did the same.

**(Lol I'm pretty sure anyone with siblings understands; me and my little bro do it all the time.)**

"I don't know why we didn't just listen to the DLF in the first place," said Susan from beside Diane. "DLF?" asked Thomas confusedly. The Pevensie girls looked at each other and smiled. "Dear Little Friend," they both said simultaneously. The boys smirked at each other but Trumpkin (of course) had something to say.

"That's not at all patronizing is it," he said sarcastically. Thomas grinned at him but said nothing.

There was another long silence until Peter finally spoke. "I'm not lost," he said with finality. "No," agreed Trumpkin. "You're just going the wrong way." Diane frowned as the two went back and forth as to where they needed to go, and eventually Peter had his way.

Needless to say, it didn't end well.

As Trumpkin had said, now that it had been so long since they had been to Narnia due to erosion and weathering there was no longer a river, but simply a very big gorge with a small river at the bottom. They came to where the river once was and found themselves nearly falling off of a huge cliff.

"Is there a way down?" asked Edmund hopefully. Trumpkin looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he said sarcastically. "There's always falling." "Well we weren't lost," said Peter. Diane rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. He was never one to admit he was wrong unless he was arguing with his siblings or hers.

The others bickered for a moment about how they were to get across, but suddenly they were cut off by Lucy. "Aslan?" she said happily. But when Diane turned around, she found nothing. "You see? He was right there!" said Lucy, pointing behind her as she turned to look at the others. She cut off when she turned back around and saw that he wasn't there and her smile slipped off of her face.

"I'm not crazy," she said to the others, trying to convince them. Peter looked at her as though she were a small child. "I'm sure there are any numbers of lions in this wood," he said to her slowly. "Just like that bear." "No!" said Lucy. "It was him, I know it was!"

"I'm not about to jump off a cliff for something that isn't there," said Trumpkin.

Edmund looked at the others seriously. "Last time we didn't listen to Lucy," he said. "I ended up looking pretty stupid." Marie nodded solemnly in agreement with him. The others looked at each other before Diane spoke, looking straight at the three. "I'm sorry," she said. "But we really can't take a chance. We need to follow what we know."

So, grudgingly, Lucy soon followed the others back into the woods, praying that Aslan would protect them from whatever had changed since they were last in Narnia.

**Yay! It's done! Sorry I just had a small feeling of happiness that I finally got this done. Again, sorry for the long wait. Hopefully net chapter will be both longer and updated quicker. I love the reviews, so please leave them!**

**-CahillGirl2001**


	3. An Argument Part I

**Hey peoples! Alright so in this chapter the main focus will be on Thomusan since there has never been anything there really. I hope I am doing a good job, but it's kind of weird to do so. I usually focus on Suspian, as most of you know, so changing shippings is kind of weird. I hope I did okay. Also, CASPIAN IS HERE! Okay sorry for the shouting. I'm just really excited. Please review!**

**Rachel Kate Doxey: Hey! I am so glad that you were so looking forward to the chapter. I am so, so, so relieved that you got the sibling thing. I just know that me and my little bro do it all the time so I figured make them more realistic and easy to relate to by doing that. I'm happy that you like how I'm doing the story. The reason I do it that way is actually because I've seen authors do that and it honestly really annoys me. To me, if you are going to tell a story you need to tell it in full and not just random bits. Thank you so much for the review and telling people about the story. Honestly the fact that not many people read it kind of makes me sad, and when those that do like it so much I feel better. I can't wait for your insights as of this chapter!**

**Guest: Thank you so much! I love the enthusiasm! Alright so the main characters in this story are Susan and Thomas, though Diane and Peter will play the minor main character roles. In the first book (you did read it right?) it was Marie and Edmund. I hope this makes sense. If not then tell me and I'll try to elaborate more.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Never has been, never will be.**

The children (and Trumpkin of course) walked around until they found a rock path that would lead them across the river.

They all walked along with Trumpkin, letting him lead the way, and it wasn't long before the silence got too weird and he posed a question that got them all thinking very seriously. "If you are all children again," said Trumpkin. "Then does that mean that you are no longer married?"

The children stopped for a moment and looked at each other. Finally Susan spoke. "I think it works this way," she said. "We are married, by law, in Narnia no matter what age we are. However in our own world we aren't married by law so we aren't and can't be for a while since we are too young. But we still kept our rings when we left."

The children all reached within their shirts and revealed wedding rings attached to necklaces around each of their necks. "Strange thing, magic," mused Trumpkin as they moved on. Then a thought seemed to have struck him. "But you were all married for a while before you left," he said. "Why do none of you have children?"

The children blushed a bit at that before Edmund answered. "Probably because Aslan knew we were going to go back. Had he allowed any of us to have children in Narnia, then one of two things would have happened. Either we would have had to leave them, thereby splitting up our families, or we would have taken them with us and have to explain to everyone exactly why all of us had children when the oldest of us were thirteen and the youngest were eight."

Trumpkin nodded but didn't say anything else, thereby ending the conversation.

They eventually got to the other side, and by that point it was dark. They set up camp and laid down to sleep. Eventually everyone except for Thomas and Susan was sound asleep, and Susan waited until she was absolutely sure everyone was out until she talked to him.

"Thomas?" she whispered. He turned so that he was facing her. "Yes?" he asked her, looking at her curiously. "What is it?" Susan sighed. "Do you think that we should have listened to Lucy? I mean, she was right about Narnia last time around. Just because we didn't see Him doesn't mean He wasn't there, right?"

Thomas took a deep breath, trying to come up with an answer. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "Honestly I believe that He was there, and that she saw him, but I don't have any proof. I don't know if he was. I just think that it would be unwise to right Him off completely. There's never been a time He didn't help us when we needed it."

"You're right," said Susan. She scooted over so that she could put her arms around him. "Thank you Thomas," she said. He put his arms around her as well and kissed her forehead. "Anything for you," he whispered. And that's how they fell asleep that night, holding each other tight.

The next morning Susan woke up to Peter unsheathing his sword and walking into the forest. A quick sweep of the camp revealed that everyone else was walking into the forest with Peter except for the two youngest children, who were nowhere to be found.

Susan ran after Peter, who was in the lead, and by the time she came to the clearing that he was in she saw that he was already in a fight with another boy that was about his age. The boy was, admittedly, pretty cute with dark skin and long black hair.

He and Peter were sword fighting and it wasn't long before Peter's sword was stuck in a tree. While the other boy tried to pull it out, Peter grabbed a rock and was just about to hit him over the head with it when Lucy yelled, "No! Stop!"

Instantly both boys' attentions were turned to the eight children there and the other boy surveyed them. Susa noticed that his gaze landed on her for longer than the rest and quickly looked down. Apparently Thomas noticed too though because he glared intently at the boy and put his arms around her protectively.

Quickly it was found out that the boy's name was Caspian X, the descendent of Caspian I, who had originally taken over Narnia when the children left. Peter and Thomas took and immediate disliking of him, but while the others didn't know him well enough to like him yet they didn't dislike him either.

Suddenly there was a voice from somewhere low to the ground. "We have waited most eagerly for you, My Liege," the Mouse addressed Peter from on the ground. Susan had to hold back an 'aww.' Unfortunately, Lucy couldn't. "He is so cute," she whispered into her sister's ear.

"Who said that?" said the Mouse, whose name was Reepicheep, obviously offended as he unsheathed his tiny sword and pointed it toward the small army now gathered around. Lucy looked sheepish. "Sorry," she said quietly. Reepicheep looked back up at her.

"With all due respect your Majesty," he said. "I believe courageous, courteous, or chivalrous would be more befitting on a Knight of Narnia." Peter smiled down at the Mouse. "Well at least we know someone can handle a blade," he said, obviously taking a jibe at Caspian. "That's good because we'll be needing as many as we can get."

"Yes well," said Caspian. "I believe you'll need yours back then." He handed Peter back Rhindon and they and a small glare off until finally Caspian backed away and started leading the children and the army back to their camp. The trip was mostly silent on the way.

Susan noticed that Thomas kept a protective arm around her all the way to the place where Narnia's army was waiting, though she found it completely unnecessary and was tempted to tell him off about it once they were in a private area. She didn't see a problem with Caspian yet; she knew that most boys thought her pretty and developed crushes on her and she didn't care as long as none of them tried anything.

What puzzled her was why Thomas was looking at Caspian in a way that Susan could only describe as him sizing Caspian up. She had always wondered why boys did that, actually. She had seen Peter do it with some of the boys Diane had met. She supposed it was like battle: you would always want to know your competition. But Susan was not a prize to be won, and that was something she's have to tell her husband.

They made it to the camp soon enough and as the eight walked through the archway to the building ahead of them they saw many Narnian creatures, all looking at them with the upmost respect and awe. There were Centaurs, Dwarves, Minotaurs, and many others.

They walked into the rocky structure and Susan soon found that it was very hot, as though a huge furnace was heating the whole thing constantly. "It may not be what you're all used to," said Caspian, looking at all of them again. "But it's defensible."

Susan walked forward and saw something interesting on the far wall. "Peter," she called. "You might want to see this." The others walked over to where she was and saw that there were painting of all of them, paintings of them in battle, of them being crowned, and finally paintings of them riding away for the hunt for the White Stag.

"It's us," said Diane in wonder. The others nodded, not saying a word. Anthony looked at Caspian. "What is this place?" he asked curiously. Caspian frowned. "You don't know?" he asked. When Lucy shook her head, he grabbed a torch and quickly lead them through some dark tunnels to an open area.

Quickly he lit some wall torches and the room was bathed in warm light. Instantly the children noticed paintings of Narnians and Aslan. Near the paintings there was a big table that stopped at around Susan's waist level. It was cracked and broken down, though the look of it told you that something momentous happened there.

Lucy turned to her eldest brother. "He must know what He's doing," she said. Everyone knew who she meant. Peter's face was indifferent, if not cold. "I think it's up to us now," he said. Despite the seriousness and certainty in her brother's voice, Susan couldn't help but think that he was wrong.

Five minutes later, a sort of council meeting had been set up. Susan was annoyed to find that Peter and Thomas were still being prats, and even more so when she found that Peter kept trying to one-up Caspian at every turn. It was starting to be irksome and she was sure that it would lead to bad decisions made eventually. Luckily, Susan seemed to agree.

"Miraz's men and war machines are on their way," Peter was saying. "That means that those same men aren't protecting his castle." Reepicheep spoke up quickly. "What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?" he asked. Both Caspian and Peter began talking at once.

"Our-"

"We-"

They both stopped and shut their mouths at the same time, looking at each other. After a moment, Caspian looked away and Peter began talking again.

"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us," said Peter.

"But that's crazy!" cried Caspian. "Nobody has ever taken the castle before." Peter glared at him. "There's always a first time," he said. Trumpkin spoke up from the other side of the room. "We'll have the element of surprise," he said. "But we have the advantage here," pushed Caspian.

"If we dig in," said Susan. "We could hold them off indefinitely." Peter glared at his sister, but she held her stance. Nobody noticed Thomas glaring at Caspian from across the room. "I for one feel safer underground," said Trufflehunter, trying to break the tension.

"Look," said Peter, looking at Caspian. "I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress, it's a tomb." "Yeah," said Thomas, finally getting over glaring that Caspian. "And if they were smart they would just wait us out." Diane turned to look at Susan, who stood next to her. "Nothing good will happen if the men keep ruling the conversation," she said. Susan nodded.

Suddenly a squirrel beside Reepicheep spoke up. "We could collect nuts," he said happily. Reepicheep turned and looked at him like he was stupid. "Yes," he said. "And throw them at the Telmarines!" he hit him on the back of the head. "Shut up." He turned back to Peter. "I think you know where I stand, Sire," he said.

Peter nodded and walked over to a centaur. "If I can get your troops in can you handle the guards?" he asked. The centaur hesitated for a moment as he looked between Caspian and Peter, as though trying to decide who to follow. "Or die trying, my Liege," he said finally.

"That's what I'm worried about."

Everyone looked over at Lucy, who had spoken from her place on Aslan's Table. "Sorry?" Peter asked her. "Well," said Lucy. "You're all acting as though there are only two options: dying here, or dying there." "I don't think you've been listening, Lucy," said Thomas. "No!" cried Lucy, sitting up. "You're not listening. Or have you already forgotten who really defeated the White Witch?"

"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough," said Peter. Lucy stayed quiet, though everyone could tell that she was still seething mad. Anthony put his arm around her comfortingly. It was then that Diane spoke, ticked off. "So you would take a chance on people's lives because you are mad at Aslan for keeping us away?" she asked.

Everyone gaped at her, obviously not expecting this. "That's not why Diane!" he yelled. "I am just trying to lead this army right. Aslan is not here. He left us. I have to lead by myself until he gets back." "You aren't listening to reason," said Diane. "You are going to get half or more of this army killed because you are being stubborn and prideful."

"I am king!" said Peter. "Not you! You don't know what you're talking about! I've heard about enough arguing out of any of you." He turned to glare at the rest of the room before turning and stomping out. All eyes followed him until he got out of sight before turning to look at Diane, who stood in the same spot, fighting back tears.

She turned to the others. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I have to take a walk for a bit. I'll be back before we head out." And with that she walked out of the room and ran outside, where she collapsed on the ground and wept.

**Please don't kill me! I really like how I did this chapter. I figured you guys would like the earlier update. Hopefully I didn't muck up too bad. Don't worry though, they make up soon. Please review for me!**

**-CahillGirl2001**


	4. An Argument Part II

**Oh my gosh guys I am so sorry it took so long to update! First, like I explained, my computer went out and I am having to use my sisters, and then I had a short term writer's block where I couldn't seem to write Narnia and I was more focused on others, and then a whole bunch of other stuff happened, so it took a bit. Again, so sorry!**

**Rachel Kate Doxey: You are so welcome! Honestly I really did like it, and I really enjoyed reading it. I wanted to help you with that a bit. I hope that it does become clearer; that would be AMAZING! Lol sorry I'm so weird. Anyway I read the chapter as you know, I LOVED THE SONG! Lol anyway you can get on with the story now if you want, and I hope you like it!**

**Now, because I figure you want to actually read, I will let you all do so now.**

**Disclaimer: NO! I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! DON'T SUE ME, OH GREAT AND AWESOME C.S. LEWIS!**

Diane ran out of the room and outside, barely managing to keep in the tears until she was near the archway, where she finally broke down and she fell to her knees, sobbing her heart out. She didn't think that just one year could do so much to Peter. He wasn't the same person he had been in the Golden Age, she realized. He had grown up a lot as king only to be torn back down again.

She sobbed and sobbed, her tears wracking her whole body until she just couldn't cry anymore. That was about the time that she heard a sound from behind her. She turned around instinctively and stiffened when she saw that it was her husband who had come.

"Diane," he whispered. His face looked sad and disappointed. He didn't look as though he had been crying, but that didn't surprise her since in all of their years together she had only seen him cry a few times. He did, however, look very upset, and if she looked very closely she could just barely make out another emotion. Regret.

"Peter," she said stiffly. Peter wisely made no move to come more than close to her, as he had learned when she was upset. It was best to keep your distance. They simply stared a moment longer before he spoke. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I was mad."

"Oh really?" spat Diane sarcastically. "I never would have guessed! Well guess what Peter? I was mad too! All of us are angry at everything! You weren't the only one taken from Narnia a year ago you know! We are all suffering, but you don't seem to care about anyone but yourself! You never once asked me how I was doing about it! You only whined because you wanted to go back.

"And then when we finally do, you are mad because you don't get to be the bigshot anymore! Because there is somebody new who you think might be a threat! You are trying to get all of us killed because you are trying to prove that you are better than he is when you aren't!

"You changed when we came back Peter. You became someone who I honestly just don't understand. You became someone so obsessed with proving that they are the best that they get into fights at every turn just because at one point you were king. The rest of us were the kings and queens as well, Peter, and we are all getting to feel the pain even more because you won't quit whining about it!

"You used to be better than this Peter. I don't know if you are now, but you sure as heck used to be. You used to be the king that every single one of us looked up to, the one that Anthony wanted to be just like when we first met you. I honestly think that you still are better than what you are acting, but I can't know for sure if you don't show me!"

Peter looked like he had just been slapped. He looked hurt, thought to Diane's amazement he didn't look angry anymore. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I know I have been a real prat lately," he said. "I didn't mean to be insensitive to you, or any of the others for that matter. I just felt abandoned when we left by Aslan, and then when we got back I felt like I had been replaced, like I was just some person to help Narnia get through a bit of a rough time before someone else came along that was better."

Diane felt her face soften slightly. "Of course you felt abandoned," she said, her voice fractionally softer. "We all did. Thomas started being more reckless and has managed to break quite a few things at our house, Marie started retreating into herself even more than she used to when she was away from Ed, and even Anthony got to be a bit sad for a while. Heck, even I was a mess! But the difference between what all of us did and what you did, Peter, was that you never got over yourself. Eventually all of us decided to just let what happens happen, but you didn't. It worried me when I first heard about it from Susan in her letters, and it still worries me now. I just don't know what to do with you anymore, Peter."

Peter looked ashamed, and Diane felt her heart go out to him. She knew that he probably didn't deserve as thorough of a lashing as she was giving him, but she needed to get the point across. It truly was scaring her, what he was becoming, and she didn't want it to go any further than it already was. She needed him to see what she saw.

"I'm sorry, Diane," he said. His voice wasn't hurt or insulted or anything that you might expect, but instead it was soft and sincere. "I don't have any valid excuses that I can use to tell you how I feel right now about how I was acting. I don't mean to be so much of a prat. I'll try to be better. Can you forgive me, love?"

Diane's heart melted when he called her that, as it always did, and she found herself suddenly running up to him and hugging him tightly, her hands threading through his golden locks as his arms went around her in a soft, loving gesture. Truth be told, she loved his hugs even more than his kisses, though her siblings would most likely disagree on that point.

"I forgive you," she whispered when they finally pulled back. They stood there for a moment, just looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Diane felt herself getting lost in her husband's light blue irises, and she found that she didn't care. After being so very angry at him before, it was refreshing to have nothing holding them back, at least for the moment.

Meanwhile, Susan and Thomas had gone to a small room inside of the How, and they sat on a small stone bench, his arm slung comfortingly around her as they sat in a comfortable silence, neither of them making an attempt to start conversation after what they had just witnessed, and both of them thinking of the scene that had just played out.

Susan had always thought of Diane and Peter as the perfect couple, the epitome of love. They had seemed to get along just fine almost from the start, and while she and Thomas definitely weren't enemies at that point, they didn't really speak much; they never really had a reason to until they went to Narnia.

Seeing Peter and Diane fight like that had taken a toll on her. If a couple as seemingly perfect as then could get into such an awful row over something as stupid as pride, what could happen to people who hadn't been so lucky as her brother and sister-in-law?

She hadn't realized that she had voiced her thoughts out loud until Thomas spoke from beside her. "I always thought that it was the couples that weren't as perfect from the start that made it farther," he said. "Because they took time to see both the good and the bad in each other and didn't just see the good from right off the bat."

"I suppose so," said Susan. "But then again, what if all of us really did rush into things? I mean, all of us got together almost immediately after we won the war. What if it was too soon for all of us? What if we didn't truly think it over? I don't want to think that we rushed into things. I don't like rushing into anything, even if it's trivial, so the thought that we rushed into a relationship so soon scares me, Thomas."

Thomas began running his hand softly through her hair soothingly before he spoke. "I think that we did fine with that," he said. "After all, it's not like we all got married so soon. You and I were nineteen before we got married and had been together for seven years. Yes, we've had our arguments, and yes, we will have more, but just like Peter and Diane today we will get through them. We can't always think of the what-ifs."

Susan put her arm around her husband's abdomen, hugging him tightly. "I love you so much," she said. He smiled. "I love you too," he said. "We will always get through anything that Aslan throws our way if we just believe in each other and in him. Of that I am certain."

"I'm glad," said Susan. She looked up at him. "And I hope that you know, whatever happens, I will always be with you. I might not always agree with your actions, but I will always love and support you, till the end of time, just as I told you on the day we got married. I have no intention of breaking that promise."

Thomas smiled. "Good," he said. "Because if I have to watch one more boy at home give you those freaking sappy look ever again, I will seriously get angry." Susan laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "None of those guys could even hope to compare to you," she said happily, and soon enough they lapsed into another comfortable silence for a few moments before there was a sound from the doorway.

When they looked up, there stood Marie, clad in her battle armor. "It's time to go," she said.

And with that, they all got up and went outside, each hoping that it went well.

**Sooo? Am I forgiven? Yes? No? Maybe so? Well whatever the answer is, feel free to tell me using that nifty little button under this AN! **

**Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know once again that I am really sorry that I haven't really been consistent with my updates, and that is absolutely 100% my fault. I haven't been keeping up as much with Narnia and have been more interested in other fandoms, so I haven't been paying attention.**

**When I started the prequel to this story, I had every intention of writing it all the way through the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and even now I still have that same intention. I will finish this story all the way through and hopefully I will find it in me to do the third book as well, though I will say that it might not always be as easy to do as when I started.**

**I hope that all of you keep with me throughout all of the ups and downs and don't get bored waiting; I know how annoying it can be to go for months at a time without an update, and I promise that if there is any way to prevent that, it will be done. Now, I have to go. Please review for me!**


	5. Thomas' Secret Part I

**Hey-hey! I am so sorry about how long it took to update! Around the twenty-fifth I realized that I wouldn't be able to update for a bit, so I decided to try for Thanksgiving day instead, but again my plans didn't go as I had hoped, so it took a bit longer. I hope all of you don't mind! Thanks so much for waiting so patiently, and for those of you that have read the last AN, I hope that you all understand.**

**Now, before I start, there are just a few things I wanted to say. **

**First, I just wanted to tell all of y'all that there is another story that I'm writing right now that is on a completely different account as well as on a different fandom. For those of you that have seen the Haunted Thundermans crossover episode of Thundermans and Haunted Hathoways, I am writing a fanfiction on Max and Taylor on an account called Pyromania Famiglia. Check it out if you want to!**

**Second, I wanted to say that the battle that was after that last scene has been skipped, being that we all know how it goes and I don't want to just basically write down the exact thing that happened in the movie. I don't know about y'all, but to me that would be boring, so yeah.**

**And lastly, I would like to thank Rachel Kate Doxey for being so awesome and sticking with me in this whole story, as well as becoming what I like to think of as a sort of friend. Thanks so much!**

**Oh, sorry in advance.**

**Disclaimer: I'm broke as a joke in July; meaning that there is no way I own Narnia.**

Susan walked back to the How with the others, her spirits low as she held on to her husband's hand and fought the urge to cry. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

The battle had been going so well until Caspian had made the mistake he did in a fit of rage. She would be lying if she said that it didn't infuriate her that he had done what he did, though she was more disappointed than angry. She had actually become friends with the boy since he had arrived –even though, contrary to popular belief, she did see the looks he was giving her and did not condone it.

It hurt her to see her older brother and what she had come to see as her friend at odds, and it was worse that her husband didn't seem to like the man much either, though she didn't understand what the problem was being that she had always been completely faithful to him and there was no need for doubt on his part. Had the situation been better she might have chuckled; it seemed that Anthony and Edmund were the only boys in her family that knew how to behave at the moment.

She was broken out of her thoughts suddenly by said idiots (Peter and Caspian) fighting in front of her, her husband standing rigid as he watched, a frown on his face. Susan knew he wanted to join the fight, but was glad he had the sense not to when one too many insults were thrown.

"I wasn't the one that left Narnia!" said Caspian. Susan was struck by his words; she had already told him about how they hadn't meant to leave. "But you were the one that invaded it!" spat Peter. "You have no more right to rule that your uncle! You, him, your father; the whole lot of you are cowards!"

That was the last straw as both boys lunged at each other. Susan knew that Peter had dealt a low blow just then, but she didn't think that this was called for. Luckily, someone else seemed to share her thoughts.

"Stop it!" yelled Marie. Susan was surprised; she hadn't thought that Marie would speak up, being how shy she is around anyone but family. "You're both being ridiculous! We are in the middle of a war and all you can think about is your silly pride! Diane has said it, Lucy has said it, and even Susan has said it! But still neither of you listens! How can you expect to try to fight a war with someone else if you're too busy warring with each other! A house divided against its self can't stand, and the same goes for this army! We lost so many people tonight because of anger, deceit, and pride. Let's not make the same mistake again."

Everyone stared at Marie, stricken by the small speech she had just said. Susan didn't think that most of the people around had ever heard her speak at all before, let alone shout so much. Even Susan, who had known the girl for years, couldn't remember a time when she had ever done that before.

Marie stood there, shaking and breathing deeply from her shouting, but stood her ground as both Peter and Caspian looked at her in confusion from her lecture, her gaze fixed on them both as she glared. Thinking back to the time spent at the Professor's house, Susan thought that her glare could easily rival the Macready's.

Eventually Peter got tired of the little staring match and finally looked to Caspian, though his gaze was still hard even if it wasn't necessarily full of hate anymore. "Alright," he said. "As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. We need to work together or our goals won't be able to be done. I'm willing to put our differences to the side for the time being if you are."

Peter stuck out his hand to the prince and Caspian, albeit reluctantly, took it and shook it. "Of course," he said. The men looked at each other, a silent agreement passing through them both, before Peter walked away followed quickly by most everyone else.

As the rest of the people left the clearing, Susan put her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Stay for a moment," she said. "We need to talk." Thomas gave her a confused look, but stayed nonetheless.

When everyone had gone, Susan turned and looked her husband in the eye. "What's your problem with Caspian?" she asked. Her voice came out sounding gentle, but with an underlying bit of harshness that dared him to speak out of line.

"He flirts with you all the time!" Thomas said. His voice was controlled, but still filled with anger at the thought of the Telmarine man. "I don't see why you don't do something about it. You aren't stupid, Susan, and neither am I… I know that you see it just as much as I do."

Susan sighed. "Thomas," she said. "of course I see what he's doing. But I don't see a reason to get angry at him when he isn't doing anything but harmless flirting. You know very well that the people back in the Golden Age did much worse than that. Think of Rabadash."

Thomas frowned. "Whether or not that is so, I still don't feel comfortable with my wife being flirted with by anyone, let alone some Prince that I've never met before this week."

Susan's face turned bright red from anger. "Since when have you ever had a reason not to trust me?" she exclaimed. "I have never been unfaithful in all our years of courtship and marriage, and yet now you're getting jealous over some prince. Honestly, I thought you trusted me more than that, Thomas John Hughes!"

Thomas flinched at her use of his full name; he didn't usually hear it from anyone but his own mother, and that in itself was rare, used only when she was really mad. To hear Susan say it, he knew that he must have crossed a line.

"You know that's not what I meant, Susan!" he said, desperately trying to stop the damage that had been begun. "I just mean that I don't trust _him_, not that I don't trust _you_!"

"Then why don't you go and tell him that instead of giving both of us dirty looks every time you see us within ten feet of each other?" yelled Susan. Honestly, she couldn't understand what her husband's problem was. She had never done anything to suggest that she might be stepping out on him, so why did he seem to think that she would?

Thomas considered her question. Honestly, he didn't know the answer to that either. Why didn't he tell Caspian flat out that he didn't like him flirting with Susan? But nobody aside from Diane knew why he would be so paranoid about Susan cheating on him, and he had sworn her to secrecy. There had been t many bad memories.

When he didn't answer her, Susan huffed and walked off. Thomas, knowing how Susan reacted when someone tried t talk to her when she was this angry, decided to leave her alone and let her cool down for a bit. Instead of following her, he made his way into the How. He needed to talk to his sister.

"Thomas!" Diane yelled as he half dragged, half led her by the wrist to an abandoned room in the How. He closed the door behind him and looked at his sister, a resolute expression on his face.

"Diane," he said. "Do you remember when you promised me, a few months before we left the professor, not to tell anyone about my little, erm, relationship?" He winced internally at that word, but honestly that was the only truthful way to describe what had gone on.

Diane frowned. "Of course I do," she said. "What's this about?"

Thomas sighed. "Susan seems to think that I'm being illogical about Caspian flirting with her, and that I don't trust her. To be honest, I am a bit paranoid that she might step out on me, though she's never given me reason to think so, but after what happened, I just wanted to know if you thought that I was being overly dramatic."

Diane took a moment to let all that he said sink in. "Well," she said eventually. "I suppose that after what happened with Sarah-" Thomas flinched at the name "-You are right to be a bit protective and a bit paranoid. But, she is also right in saying that you have no right to believe and treat her like she will cheat on you when she has never given you reason to believe she will."

Thomas stood in silence as his sister talked. He nodded when she had finished. "But how am I supposed to get over that? You know what happened, Diane. You're the only one I told. Can't you understand why I might be _just a little _paranoid? I don't want another repeat of that instant. I thought I loved Sarah, and she broke my heart. But I know I love Susan, so what might happen if she were to do the same?"

"But she won't, Thomas," said Diane. "She's not the type. I trust her, and Anthony and Marie do as well. You remember how they were with Sarah; it was nothing like Susan. The two of them are nothing alike. You have nothing to worry about."

Thomas nodded. He knew now what he needed to do. But first, they had a war to win.

**Yeah… apparently my muse likes my characters to fight.**

**Anyway, do you remember in the first story, about the time Edmund and Marie were in the Witch's dungeon, I told you that each of the children had a specific personality and background that would, at some point, become important to the story? First it was Marie's shyness, and now this. And don't worry, I have this 'Sarah' girl all figured out already.**

**By what I said in the story, I suppose most of you understand the gist of what happened, yes? Good. Like I said, there is a lot you guys have yet to learn about the Hughes siblings and their past. If any of you have suggestions on how the next chapter should play out, simply leave a review. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say!**

**-CahillGirl2001**


	6. Thomas' Secret Part II

**Hey! I am so sorry, yet again, that it took so long. I really hope you guys find it in you to enjoy this chapter; I just kind of woke up and had a wonderful idea for it. **

**First off, I wanna tell y'all that today is officially my birthday. I can't unfortunately, tell you how old I am, but for the more observant ones of you it should be pretty easy to figure out. So I figured that, since I was behind schedule anyway, I would wait to update till today and call it a birthday present to myself.**

**Second off, if any of you have ever seen the Flash, a new TV series, and have seen the new episode, I want all of you to know that I was up until three a.m. this morning watching it, and then I started literally doing the happy dance. Apparently reading and watching so many mysteries has paid off, because I was half right in who the guy in yellow was. So to anyone that has done that research as well, I would just like to say OH MY GOD!**

**Now, since I'm pretty sure that not all of you care about anything I just said, I'll stop and let y'all read.**

**Disclaimer: How many times do I legally have to say this before I can stop? I OWN NOTHING.**

_"__Why?" Thomas asked her, anger and sadness making his voice much louder than usual. "Why would you do something like this?" _

_The pretty blonde girl in front of him had tears streaming down her beautiful face. Once, Thomas had looked at her and his mood had been brightened at the mere sight of her. Now, however, that beautiful, long blonde hair that had just a gentle curl at the bottom, those gorgeous green eyes that used to set his heart on fire, did nothing but fuel his anger and sadness. _

_"__I'm sorry," Sarah said. "It didn't start out like this. I didn't mean to hurt you. But you had to have noticed, we haven't been the same for a while. Ever since the war started. Did you really expect us to stay together, happy, now that we have to leave to places we've never seen before to escape this silly battle? You're smarter than that, Thomas. I know you are."_

_Of course she was right, Thomas had known that they weren't the same anymore. But he had never expected that she would do something like this._

_"__You cheated on me!" he roared. Suddenly his voice went deadly low. "How long?" he asked. "How long has this been going on?"_

_"__Thomas-" she began, trying to talk him out of this, but he cut her off._

_"__HOW LONG!?" he roared._

_She looked at the floor. "About a month ago," she whispered. "We met over three months ago, and he started asking me out, but I always said no. he wouldn't take no for an answer, and started spending more and more time with me, and… I grew to like him." She looked up at Thomas, a pained and sad expression on her face. "But I love you!" she said. "He means nothing to me compared to you!"_

_"__Don't lie to me!" shouted Thomas. "If that was true you never would have done it!"_

_"__Please!" shouted Sarah. "Please believe me! I love you!"_

_Her voice was fading in his mind, her picture becoming distorted, until another woman took her place– Susan Mira Pevensie. "I love you," she said, her voice taking over that of Sarah's until they were both mixed, and Thomas' heart nearly stopped. _

_"__No!" he yelled. "Stop it! Stop it! Don't say that! Stop it!"_

* * *

><p>Thomas woke up with a start and bolted into an upright position, his heart thumping, with tears on his face. The sound of both women's voices still rang in his head from his nightmare, and he was panting. It took a moment to gather his bearings, but eventually he remembered that he was asleep in a spare bedroom in the How, since he couldn't bring himself to go to his and Susan's shared one to sleep the night before after their fight. At the thought of the fight, Thomas felt a wave of guilt drop into his stomach. What had he done?<p>

Looking over to a very small window on one of the walls, he saw that the sun had barely risen. It was about seven in the morning, by his estimations. Quickly, he threw on his day clothes and sword and walked outside, getting straight to the battle practice stations they had all set up and getting to work. Nobody was there yet, of course, so Thomas was alone.

He gave himself to his work, fighting dummy after dummy until all of them were nearly reduced to shreds, and it was nearly nine o'clock. He was panting and sweating by the end of it and his arms felt tired form holding his weapon for so long. People had already started coming into the field as well, and he felt certain that it wouldn't be long before everyone was outside.

It wasn't too long later that he left the training area. He couldn't put it off any longer; he had to tell Susan about his past and he had to apologize. He needed her to forgive him.

"Susan!" he called out when he finally found her somewhere near the archery training grounds, rushing over to her. She looked at him with a look of apprehension and hesitance, but eventually come over to him. "Yes?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "Follow me," he said. "There's something I need to tell you."

Giving him a confused and hesitant look, she followed him all the way into the forest, where they wouldn't be seen or heard by anyone, before he turned to look at her.

"There's a reason I'm sorry paranoid about you and Caspian," he said. "And it isn't just because I'm being a prat."

"Then what is it?" asked Susan, her voice edgy. "Because it sure seemed like that to me."

Thomas sighed. "A long time ago," he began. "About a year before we all met at the Professor's house, I knew a girl named Sarah Johnson. She had blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes. I met her at church, and I instantly started liking her. She was sweet, and smart, and beautiful– I thought she was the perfect girl for me.

"About six months after I met her we started dating, and for a while I thought I was in love with her, and that she was in love with me too. But then I was proven wrong when I found out she cheated on me with another guy. It broke my heart, and we broke up barely a month before we had to leave for the Professor's. She told me that going to the Professor's was actually half the reason that she left me, that we would never make it with a long distance relationship; she actually had the gall to tell me that I should have known it was coming.

"The only person who even knew that I fancied Sarah was Diane, and I swore her to secrecy. I didn't want any painful reminders of my past. But that was before I met you. I started to fall for you almost from the start, but I tried to tell myself that I really didn't like you. I tried to save myself from the heartache I knew was coming. And then we went to Narnia, and I was forced to spend so long with you, and I found it impossible to not fall in love with you. You were more perfect than I ever knew Sarah to be. You were everything she was and more.

"So I married you, and we spent so long together, and I found myself falling more and more for you every day, and eventually I forgot all about England and Sarah. And then when we went back I remembered again, but it didn't hurt as much to think of her even then. Unknowingly, you had helped me get over my first love, and I found myself only half-aware of my past, for so long. So when I saw you with Caspian, I got jealous and I assumed the worst. I just didn't want to lose you like I lost her. I got one broken heart, I didn't want to have another. I'm sorry if I came off a bit strong. I didn't mean to be a prat. Will you ever forgive me?"

He finished with his head hanging low in shame and misery, trying to hold the tears in. He nearly jumped when he felt two small and gentle hands touch his cheeks and make him look up. "I forgive you," said Susan, her expression understanding now instead of the hard expression that it had been.

Thomas stood up and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "Thank you," he said, hugging her tightly. "I love you Susan. I always will."

"I love you too, Thomas," she answered. Thomas smiled.

* * *

><p>Thomas grunted as he fought the hag that was currently advancing on him and Peter, who were trying to destroy it.<p>

Not too long after Susan and himself had made up, Lucy had come running out of the How screaming about something going on with Caspian, and the three of them had run into the How again, only to find that Caspian was standing with what looked to be a hag and a werewolf as well as Nikabrik, his bloody hand outstretched to a wall of ice with the frightening image of the White Witch on the other side, her hand outstretched as though reaching for Caspian's.

As soon as Thomas had seen what was going on, he had shouted at Caspian to stop, but it seemed as though Caspian was in a trance, and he refused to listen. Unfortunately, just before Thomas could say anything more, the wolf, hag, and Nikabrik had attacked, and all eight of the children had been thrust into battle.

Thomas yelled one more time before he and Peter destroyed the hag, and then suddenly Peter ran over to Caspian and shoved him out of the way of the Witch, knocking him out of his trance, but it seemed that Peter simply took his place, and the Witch began talking to him, though Thomas couldn't make out what she was saying.

The next thing that happened was so sudden that it made Thomas jump– a sword plunged through the ice, and then there was Edmund, standing behind where the ice wall had been, frowning and talking to his brother.

As soon as Thomas was sure that all danger was done, Thomas looked over to Susan to make sure she was fine. She seemed unharmed, but she was glaring heatedly at both Peter and Caspian. Something told Thomas that whatever the Witch had been saying, it was not something that his wife had liked hearing in the least, and she would most likely be fuming about it until the early hours of the morning, if he knew his wife.

With this information in mind, Thomas gave one last glare to Peter and Caspian before leaving, determined to find his wife and try to calm her down before she shot someone.

**So? How was my birthday present to myself? Good, bad, in between? I would just kill to have a review! **

**I know that it's a bit short, but I do think that I did well. I wanted to know what you all thought of Thomas' story, and of course what you all thought of Sarah. I didn't want to make her seem completely like a witch, but I didn't want to make her likable either. Something tells me tht I more succeeded in the second one than the first though, so… yeah.**

**Anyway, I love all of you and hopefully I will be able to update soon. Like I said, please, please, pretty please review! Talk to all of you later,**

**-CahillGirl2001**


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